Shepley Bulfinch, a national architecture firm known for design excellence and innovation with offices in Boston, Houston and Phoenix, announced that Robert (Bob) Simmons, AIA, LEED AP has joined the firm as a Principal. A dynamic leader in campus life design throughout the nation, Bob has been central to the design of over a million square feet of campus life projects, including arts and performance spaces, university centers, and dining commons, for many prestigious institutions. His work includes transformations of iconic buildings at Harvard University, MIT, the University of Chicago, and Vanderbilt University. After 30 years of practice focused in large part on higher education projects, Bob joins Shepley Bulfinch to continue to build on a successful portfolio of projects for colleges and universities.
 
"We are delighted that Bob has joined Shepley Bulfinch," said Carole Wedge, FAIA, LEED AP, president of Shepley Bulfinch. "His strong focus on campus life projects in all phases of design, as well as his leadership, will be a true asset to the firm. Bob has earned the respect of the profession through his dynamic mix of design innovation and a service excellence that fosters client loyalty. He shares our commitment to creating environments that promote collaboration, intellectual curiosity, academic excellence and a healthy student life style."

Formerly a principal and partner with Bruner/Cott & Associates, Bob founded his own firm in 2016 before joining Shepley Bulfinch. His recent projects include design of the new $35M West Campus Dining Commons at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville, a 1,300-seat dining facility that is the centerpiece for UT's new west campus residential quadrangle, and the 900-seat University of Massachusetts Lincoln Campus Center.

"I was drawn to the youthful energy and horsepower of Shepley Bulfinch, a firm in an exciting metamorphosis, with its wealth of talent and rock-solid reputation, along with the firm's mix of projects from sectors that require maximum political prowess, inventiveness, and solid execution," said Bob. "With my experience I hope to expand the bandwidth of Shepley's higher education sector and look forward to working with a firm with such impressive technical depth, design ambition, and energy."

Bob earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie-Mellon University.